STEINBECK, John (1902-1968) – Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. Thin Paper Edition de Luxe. Springfield, MA: Merriam, 1927. * ROGET, Peter Mark. Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. New York: Crowell Co., n.d.

John Steinbeck's personal copies of Webster's Dictionary and of Roget's Thesaurus, both signed and uniformly custom-bound. After starting and abandoning an English literature degree at Stanford, the young John Steinbeck traveled to New York City to first try his hand at becoming a professional writer. It was apparently at this juncture in New York, in 1927, when he acquired these two essential tools of his chosen trade. Both volumes are signed "John Steinbeck" and dated 1927 on the front free endpapers. In 1928, Steinbeck moved back to California, having failed to get published in New York. It was while working as a tour guide in Lake Tahoe that he met Carol Henning, whom he would marry in 1930. Their joint ownership stamp also appears in both volumes, meaning that they were in Steinbeck's possession when he wrote Cup of Gold, his first novel. John and Carol Steinbeck were important collaborators through the 1930s. She was a prime motivator of his progressive politics and associated with In Dubious Battle, Of Mice and Men, and, of course, The Grapes of Wrath. See Shillinglaw, Carol and John Steinbeck: Portrait of a Marriage (University of Nevada Press, 2013).

Two volumes, octavo. Printed on thin paper, with thumb indices. Original leatherette and cloth respectively, both covered over with plain suede (suede rubbed with a few stains, suede on dictionary with two gouges and lower cover starting to lift, hinges cracked). Provenance: John Steinbeck (ownership signatures dated 1927) – Carol and John Steinbeck (ownership inkstamps) – PBA Galleries, 14 May 1998, lots 171 and 178 – acquired at that sale by the present owner.